Maria Katharina Kasper
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Blessed Maria Katharina Kasper |
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| Religious | |
| Born |
26 May 1820 Dernbach, Westerwaldkreis, German Confederation |
| Died | 2 February 1898 (aged 77) Dernbach, Westerwaldkreis, German Empire |
| Venerated in | Roman Catholic Church |
| Beatified | 16 April 1978, Saint Peter's Square, Vatican City by Pope Paul VI |
| Feast | 2 February |
| Attributes | |
| Patronage | Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ |
Blessed Maria Katharina Kasper (26 May 1820 – 2 February 1898) - born Katharina but in religious known as Maria - was a German Roman Catholic professed religious and the founder of the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ. Kasper entered the religious life later in her life despite having harbored a desire to become a nun for a great period of time. It had not materialized earlier due to aggravating circumstances such as the Kasper's poor economic status and the deaths of both a brother and her father. Her dedication to the poor and the ill was noted during the course of her life and dedicated herself to this work with great zeal.
Her canonization process launched in the 1940s and on 4 October 1974 she was named as Venerable; Pope Paul VI beatified her not long after on 16 April 1978.Pope Francis confirmed her canonization which is to be celebrated sometime in late 2018.
Maria Katharina Kasper was born in mid-1820 in Dernbach as the third of four children to the devout peasants Heinrich Kasper and Katharina Fassel (1785-???). Her father had four daughters from his first marriage. Her siblings were:
In her childhood she liked to read as a child and placed a particular emphasis on the Bible and the noted book entitled the Imitation of Christ. Kasper was also known for being extroverted with a strong sense of moral character. Kasper attended school in her hometown (from age six to fourteen though frail health often kept her at home) and helped in her parents' potato patch while also doing household chores such as spinning and weaving fabric. To the children she sung songs and often told them stories.
Kasper also worked on the fields and one such job she was entrusted with was the splitting of stones for road construction in the areas around the field. Kasper often travelled to a Marian shrine and often took fellow children there too. Her religious vocation manifested as a child and she wrote that "I was just a little girl" when she felt "a great desire of religious vows" so as to consecrate herself to the Lord. Kasper worked in her adolescence in the fields so as to support her parents though her vocation vision grew clearer as she worked and she later wrote that "when I went to work I felt the presence of God in me".
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